Cyclists Rejoice: PumpTire Is the World’s First Self-Inflating Bicycle Tire

Where has this invention been all our lives? San Francisco-based startup PumpTire has just created the world’s first self-inflating bicycle tire, which uses the spinning motion and weight of your bike to keep its tires perfectly inflated at all times. So how does it work?

The PumpTire product consists of a tube, a bicycle tire, and a valve. The inner tube clips into the tire and allows for an exchange of air between itself and the tire. Once the desired pressure is reached, the pump stops and the valve closes so that no more air is pumped into the tire. Check out the video above to see the advanced prototype in action. PumpTire hasn’t yet built any of these devices, but they are seeking funding to get started.

4 thoughts on “Cyclists Rejoice: PumpTire Is the World’s First Self-Inflating Bicycle Tire”

Since this only fixes underinflation and won't help with flats, I wonder if this wouldn't be a lot more useful in automobile tires than bike tires, where the problem is flats? In a car, would the increased rolling resistance imposed by the integrated tire pump offset the decreased rolling resistance afforded by proper inflation? That's a figure I would like to see. If it does, then this should be in all car tires....

So, if I get a hole in the tyre/tube, this will get me home as long as it can 'pump' faster than the air leaks out of the tube. It would be interesting to know the pump rate (presumably depends on rpm) compared to the rate a typical small puncture (say from glass) leaks air...